The Shining Mountain
by Stormsurge-Vaireheim
Summary: Join Markus, Cassidy, Yume, and Hima on their Pokemon adventure through the Unova Region, and learn about the mystery of the Shining Mountain.
1. Chapter 1

The Journey Begins

Our story begins with a young trainer who is called Markus. Normally a trainer can start their journey at the age of 15, but he decided to wait until he turned 16 before starting off. Today; though, Markus is getting ready to start his adventure.

Markus finished putting a pair of clothes into his tan satchel before he picked it up with his black hat and jacket. "That should be everything I need." He said before turning off his bedroom lights and walking downstairs satchel in hand. As he walked down the stairs he didn't see his parents anywhere, but did notice that his mom left him a note.

_Dear Markus,_

_Sorry we're both away at work today. We tried to persuade our boss to let us come in later, so that we could see you off, but he needed some things shipped out early. I left a breakfast sandwich in the fridge for you. I know you'll probably head off to the nearest town once you get your first Pokémon. When you get the chance, send us a picture of you and your Pokémon and also make sure to stop back here once in a while. Be safe on your journey._

_Love Mom_

Markus put the note in a pocket of his satchel and then went to the fridge for the sandwich that was made for him. He opened the fridge and pulled the bag with the sandwich and a small carton of milk to go along with the sandwich. Markus checked again to make sure he had everything before he walked out of his house.

He took a bite out of the sandwich while walking along the path to Professor Juniper's lab in Nuvema Town. He was hoping that Juniper was able to have Professor Elm send a Cyndaquil to Juniper's lab as his starter. He had always admired the way Cyndaquils could battle, along with the power of its evolved forms. As he was walking along, while lost in thought, his friend Cassidy walked up silently behind him and tapped his shoulder. Markus jumped nearly choking on a bite of his breakfast. Cassidy smiled and said, "Good morning Markus. I see you're heading to Nuvema Town to get started on your Pokémon journey." He swallowed his sandwich and had to catch his breath before answering. "Why is it that... you have to sneak up on me, and yes... I am going to Professor Juniper's lab to get my starter. Are you doing the same as well?" Cassidy jogged to catch up and walked beside Markus after he started walking again. "I sneak up on you because it's fun to see your reaction when I do. How'd you know that I was heading to Juniper's lab?" "I know because one: You turned 15 last week, and two: You have been asking when I was going to get ready after I turned 16." Cassidy laughed while putting a hand behind her head. "I guess it was pretty easy to tell then." She coughed lightly and began again. "Markus. I was wondering about something. It's about our journeys ahead of us." Markus looked over at her. "What is it Cass?" "I wanted to know if you wanted to travel together once we get our Pokémon from Juniper. We've been friends for so long I guess I just wouldn't know what to do without having you around to talk to." Markus looked ahead again to avoid walking into something. "I wouldn't mind having you tag along. It'd be nice to have someone other than a Pokémon around." Cassidy jumped with joy. "YES! I can't wait to start now, knowing I'll be with a friend." "Do you have any idea which Pokémon you'll pick as your starter?" Markus asked. Cassidy stopped celebrating and had a shocked look on her face. "OH NO! I was too busy getting ready and making sure that I would catch up with you, that I forgot to pick one!" Markus laughed, but stopped to reassure her, "Don't worry Cass. Professor Juniper will be there to help you with deciding on a starter. I don't know if she'd be able to at a short notice, but you might be able to ask her if she could have a Treecko or Piplup transferred. I asked about receiving a Cyndaquil from Professor Elm. I don't know if Juniper was able to though. We'll just have to see." Cassidy let out a long sigh of relief. "That's nice to hear, but at the same time it doesn't help. That means there'll be more choices to pick from if she can do that." The two of them continued chatting back and forth as they bears the town of Nuvema.

Professor Juniper was placing out bowls of Pokémon food for the Oshawott, Tepig, and Snivy while talking to Professor Elm through her computer. "Are you sure that it's okay to send Cyndaquil here Professor Elm?" "I'm positive. This little guy has been waiting awhile now to find a trainer. I'm sure that the Markus you told me about will be a great trainer." Juniper set down the last bowl and petted the Snivy's head before walking back to the computer. "Thank you for doing this Elm. I'm sure Markus will be happy to get a Cyndaquil." Elm smiled and waved before disconnecting their videoconference. The Pokémon Transfer Machine turned on and a Pokéball appeared in the holder. Juniper picked it up and tossed it in the air. The ball opened up and a silvery light came out to form a Cyndaquil. He cried out, "Cyndaquil!" Juniper knelt down to greet the newly arrived Pokémon. "Hello Cyndaquil. My name is Juniper. You won't get to know me very well, but you'll get to know my friend Markus well. He is looking forward to getting a Cyndaquil as his first Pokémon." To this Cyndaquil added, "Quil! Quil!" Juniper smiled and placed another bowl of Pokémon food down for him. The Cyndaquil gladly began eating. Juniper returned to organizing some papers and then making sure the Pokéballs for the starters were working, along with the Pokédexs. She nodded with approval just as she heard the front door slide open and Markus call out, "Professor Juniper, are you here?" "I'm in here Markus. Come on back." She replied. Markus and Cassidy stepped in through the entrance. "Good morning Professor Juniper." They both said. "I suppose you're both here to start your Pokémon adventures." Markus and Cassidy nodded. "Then I suppose I'll let you get started on deciding which starter you'd like. Cassidy, how about you choose first." Cassidy walked forward and looked over the three Unova Pokémon. "To be honest Professor Juniper, I was too busy thinking out my journey that I forgot to think about which Pokémon I'd choose." "That's alright Cassidy. I'll help you to the best that I can. In the meantime, Markus, I have something for you." Professor Juniper pulled out the Cyndaquil's Pokéball from her pocket and placed it in Markus' hand. "I know you've been waiting awhile now, but I managed to do what you asked." Markus stood there with the Pokéball in his hand staring at it. He then enlarged it and tossed it into the air, but when it opened nothing came out. "Oops. I forgot I let Cyndaquil out so that he could get something to eat." Juniper turned and called out, "Cyndaquil. Would you come in here?" The blue and yellow hedgehog Pokémon walked in and looked up at Juniper. "This is Markus, Cyndaquil." Cyndaquil looked over to Markus who was now kneeling and holding his hand out towards him. "It's okay. I won't hurt you." Cyndaquil crept toward the outstretched hand and sniffed the tips of Markus' fingers. Afterwards, the Cyndaquil ran forward and tackled him to the ground letting out joyous squeaks. "Quil! Quil!" Markus laughed as the Cyndaquil continued to celebrate at the meeting of a new trainer. Juniper turned to Cassidy who was standing by watching the Cyndaquil. "Do you have a Pokémon in mind that you'd like as your starter Cassidy?" Cassidy jumped again, but not near as much as before. "Well... To be honest Professor, I was caught up with planning for my journey that I forgot to think about one." "That's not uncommon for trainers that are just starting out. I'll help you out here. Just follow me into the greeting room." Professor Juniper said as she walked towards the opening. Cassidy followed leaving Markus with his Cyndaquil. The Pokémon hopped off of his trainer's stomach allowing Markus to sit up. "So Cyndaquil. How about we go outside and see what moves you have learned." "Cyndaquil!" They both then walked out to the front courtyard.

"Are you sure this is the right way to Nuvema Town Yume" Hima asked her friend as they walked down the forested path. "I'm positive it's this way. The region guide told me to just follow this route Hima." A Riolu and Pikachu followed closely behind the two foreign trainers watching them bicker back and forth about directions. "If the guy is a region guide then I'm sure he knows what he was doing!" "It couldn't have hurt to at least grab a map from the office just to be safe."

Markus walked out the door behind his Cyndaquil, and stopped to listen to a distant noise. "Do you hear that Cyndaquil? Sounds like someone arguing." "Quil?" They both looked around the corner of the wall and saw Yume and Hima walking into town. "See Hima, I told you it was the right way." "You're just lucky we found the place or any place for that matter." They stopped talking and saw Markus looking around the wall. Yume called out, "OI, KID!" Markus and Cyndaquil froze up and stumbled to hide behind the wall. "DON'T YOU RUN FROM ME!" Yume started to run towards the building with her Riolu close behind. "Yume wait!" Her Pikachu jumped up onto Hima's shoulder. "She's at it again Pikachu." Hima then followed in her friend's dust trail hoping that she'd get there before Yume pummeled whomever it was.

Markus and Cyndaquil hid behind a potted plant crouching behind it while they ears Yume run around the corner. "A plant isn't going help hide you, you know." She said looking at Markus' failed attempt to hide. He stood up and stepped out with his Cyndaquil. "If you're wondering why I was looking, it was because I heard you and your friend talking or rather arguing." He said. "Actually, I wanted to know where Professor Juniper's lab is. My friend and I came from Sinnoh recently after stopping for a bit. We're hoping to get our Pokédexs updated, so we can catalog the new Pokémon we meet." Yume replied. Markus let out a deep sigh, "For a minute there I thought I was in trouble. This is the Professor's lab right here, so you don't have to look any further." "Awesome!" Hima rounded the corner to see the two conversing. "It's good you weren't beating him up Yume. I hoping you found the Professor's location from this guy. I'm not in the mood to get lost again." "That was only once in the shopping mall Hima. Get over it." Yume turned back to Markus. "Thanks for the help and sorry for scaring you like that." The two trainers walked in while Cassidy was walking out with a small bag and a Pokéball in hand. Markus dusted off his pants and asked, "Which starter did you decide to choose Cass?" She tossed the sphere in the air to let out a Turtwig. "Juniper managed to get a Turtwig from Professor Rowan in Sinnoh. I absolutely love turtle Pokémon. Squirtle isn't quite my type though. Professor Juniper asked me to give you these too when I left." Cassidy undid the tie on the bag and handed five Pokéballs to Markus. "Those are for when we encounter any Pokémon we see that could help us on our journey. Here is your Pokédex, also." "Thanks Cassidy. I guess we better get going if we want to make it to Accumulate Town before this evening." Cassidy nodded and they both started walking to the route that would lead them to Accumula.

Hima and Yume walked out of the Pokémon lab and thanked Professor Juniper for the updated Pokédexs. They went around the wall of the lab courtyard and started back the way they arrived. Yume looked ahead and saw Markus and Cassidy ahead of them. "IT'S THAT GUY AGAIN!" Hima went to stop her, but Yume was already running to catch up with the other trainers.

Markus and Cassidy stopped to see who was running towards them. "Do you know who she is Markus?" "I met her a few minutes ago when they were looking for Juniper's lab. I don't know what she wants now though." Yume stopped a few feet from them and pointed a finger at Markus. "I didn't get to ask before, but I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" Cyndaquil looked up at Markus. "Quil?" "I accept your challenge." Hima sighed, "That's my friend Yume for you. She always seems to want to battle." the Pikachu let out a similar sound as its trainer. "Yes!" Yume said, "My first battle, in the Unova region. Prepare to be beaten!" The two of them stepped back to create a makeshift battlefield. "Let's go Riolu!" The black and blue Pokémon stepped forward into the field. Markus nodded at his Cyndaquil, and it jumped forward igniting the flames on its back. Hima stood to the side with Cassidy as they watched their friends begin their Pokémon battle. Yume called out, "Riolu use Force Palm!" The Riolu raised his hand behind his back and leap forward. "Dodge its attack Cyndaquil and use Ember!" Cyndaquil jumped up into the air, but instead of the orange flecks of ember, a full on jet of fire came out of his mouth and flew down towards the Riolu. "Riolu?" Yume yelled, "Get out of the way Riolu!" The jackal flipped backwards and avoided the hot bombardment. Cyndaquil landed safely a few feet away. "I didn't think you were strong enough to be able to use Flamethrower Cyndaquil." Markus said. He pulled out his Pokédex and held it up to view his Cyndaquil's moveset. "So you know Flamethrower, Swift, Scratch, and Flame Wheel." Yume's confidence of beating the new trainer wavered a bit when she saw how strong the Cyndaquil was. She regained her composure and said another move, "Use Bone Rush Riolu!" Her Riolu summoned a blue bone its hand and twirled it around before running forward. "Use Swift to counter Riolu's Bone Rush Cyndaquil!" Cyndaquil opened its mouth and several stars flew out to intercept the incoming attack. The Riolu swung its bone and broke the stars apart and rushed in to land a hit on his opponent. Cyndaquil slid backwards a little and regained his footing. "Use Flamethrower and follow up with Flame Wheel Cyndaquil." Markus said. His Cyndaquil reignited his flames and set out a torrent of fire. The Riolu jumped up, but didn't notice that Cyndaquil was heading straight for him in a cloak of fire. Cyndaquil landed a direct hit and sent Yume's Riolu back down to the ground out of a smoke cloud. "Riolu!" When the dust cleared Yume's Riolu was knocked out and staring up at the sky. Yume ran over and picked up her Pokémon. "I thought the starter Pokémon trainers first receive aren't supposed to be that strong." "I didn't think so either, but Cyndaquil was sent over from Professor Elm's lab. That could explain why he knows those moves. Is your Riolu okay?" Yume's Riolu stirred and opened his eyes. "He'll be fine." Hima and Cassidy walked over to the two of them. "Can we go now Yume?" Hima asked. Cassidy interrupted them before Yume could answer, "What if you and Yume come with Markus and I on our journey?" The two foreigners looked at each other. "Is that alright with the both of you?" Yume asked. "We wouldn't want to be an extra set of wheels." Hima added. Markus smiled, "I don't mind if you want to tag along. Since we're both new to traveling we don't know much about the basics of traveling other than making sure you have food and a place to sleep." Yume stood up and let her Riolu stand on his own. "Where are we going to go to first?" "We were planning to make it to Striaton City in order to get more information on bigger cities. Then from there who knows. I do plan on entering the Pokémon league eventually." Markus said. Yume dusted her jacket off and grabbed her pack. "Then we're off to Striaton City!" The group of newly met friends then headed off with their Pokémon following them.


	2. Chapter 2

The Howling In the Trees

The group of Pokémon trainers continued their trek to Striaton City and perhaps a gym battle with the leader there. "It's nice to have someone that is at least somewhat familiar with this region in our group- isn't that right Yume?" Hima remarked. "It's not my fault the map was printed wrong." Yume replied. "You had the map upside down the entire time and didn't realize that it was until we reached Solaceon Town." "Do you two always have troubles traveling with directions?" Cassidy asked them. They both sighed and let out slight laughter. "We usually do have that kind of luck." Yume said. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation," Markus began, "But the sun is starting to set and I don't think we're going to be able to make it to Striaton City today. How about we head off in the trees and find a place to make a camp?" "That sounds like a good plan." Said Hima in reply. The four of them broke off of the main trail and into the trees that surrounded the path on either side. The sun was beginning to paint the blue canvas with a variety of orange, purple, and pink as it sunk lower into the west horizon. Markus and his Cyndaquil started a fire in the middle of a small clearing and were busy gathering a small pile of fire wood for the night. Yume and Hima were scouting the surrounding area for any edible berries that they could use in their meal. Meanwhile, Cassidy was training with her Turtwig near a small stream. Yume's Riolu and Hima's Pikachu were walking nearby exploring the new area. The two of them were kicking small pebbles back and forth, but stopped when they heard something move in the distance. Pikachu prepared a Thundershock while Riolu had a Force Palm ready. A howl started in distance and was followed by several other howls around the camp. The Riolu and Pikachu dropped their guard and ran back to the camp. Cassidy looked around when she heard the howling, "Yume, Hima, Do you know what's making that noise? The howls sound like a Herdier's. I don't know of a large pack around here though." The two foreign trainers pulled their Pokémon closer to them as they arrived back. "Are they dangerous?" Hima asked. Cassidy shook her head, "Normally they aren't, but something may have caused them to do this." "Where's Markus?" Yume asked. The three of them forgot that Markus was out looking for firewood.

Markus and his Cyndaquil were carrying back a couple piles of twigs and small branches when they heard the howls. Cyndaquil ignited his flames and glared into the surrounding shrubs. They stood ready to attack whenever the Pokémon making the noise appeared. The howling began to subside allowing the trainer and his Pokémon to relax a bit. Before Markus could react a Mightyena jumped out of a push barreling into the side of Cyndaquil. A couple Herdiers and a Stoutland followed the Mightyena out of the bush. "Stoutland!" The two Herdiers lunged towards the fallen Mightyena, but were intercepted by Cyndaquil's Swift. "Cyndaquil, hold them off. I'll try and get the Mightyena back to our camp. Be sure to follow me when I get moving." His Cyndaquil nodded and blew out a jet of fire towards the attackers. Markus knelt down beside the Mightyena. When it saw Markus approaching the Mightyena tried to get up, but Markus kept him down. "I won't hurt you. If you cooperate with me I'll get you back to a safe place. Once we get you fixed up you can go on your way." The wolf Pokémon got up and leaned on Markus. "Let's go Cyndaquil!" They began moving as fast they could while the Stoutland and Herdiers continued after them.

Cassidy, Hima, and Yume heard the breaking of limbs behind them, and turned around waiting to see what was going to appear. Markus broke through the foliage with a Mightyena next to him and Cyndaquil still firing bursts of fire behind him. "There is a Stoutland and two Herdiers in pursuit! Think you can lend a hand?" Markus said as he directed the injured Pokémon to his sleeping pad. "Time to get some air Charmander!" "Let's go Piplup!" Yume's Charmander and Hima's Piplup appeared out of their Pokéballs. "Use Ember!" Yume said, while Hima said, "Use Water Gun!" The two starter Pokémon let loose their attacks and hit the two Herdiers as they appeared out of the bushes. The Stoutland jumped out and used Mud Slap on both Charmander and Piplup. They were thrown backwards from force of the attack and landed near their trainers. "Cyndaquil use Flamethrower!" The Stoutland looked towards the fire mouse, but didn't react fast enough to avoid the torrent of flame. The break in time allowed Charmander and Piplup to get back up and join back in. The four trainers and their Pokémon managed to get the two Herdiers and Stoutland to turn tail and run. After a few seconds of tense silence all of them let out a deep sigh. "I'm glad that they didn't stay longer. Now I know why people always are weary of traveling in this forest." Cassdiy said. Hima and Yume looked through the packs and started pulling out some of the food. "At least now we can make some dinner for us and the Pokémon." Hima said. Markus was over by the Mightyena inspecting the damage it had taken from the wild Pokémon. The wolf moved its head pack when Markus attempted to touch it. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." The Mightyena sniffed the outstretched hand before allowing him to feel around for any injuries. "It seems like you're alright, but the real question is how you got here. Mightyena are not usually found in Unova." Markus said as he related information to the Mightyena. Cassidy walked over to them with her Turtwig following behind her. "I brought some food for the Mightyena if it's hungry. Will it be okay?" She set the bowl down beside the Mightyena and watched as it began to eat some food. Markus replied, "I think Mightyena will be fine. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, so the best thing we can do is to let time fix anything." They left the Mightyena to recover from the day's events and joined their two friends by the newly lit fire. "Good news is that we have plenty of food and there are a lot of berries growing around, so we don't have to use a lot of our food." Yume said while giving a few berries to her Charmander. Hima set a platter on a makeshift table. "So far we have some Pecha Berry Dumplings with rice on the side. As for a cook, I can only make what I have ingredients for." The four of them sat around the campfire and exchanged stories they had while they ate.

The Mightyena looked over its flank to look at the people around the fire. They had brought him in even though he wasn't a tame Pokémon. The Mightyena laid its head back down and thought back to past memories in Hoenn. The Pokémon of the trainers walked over to where the Mighyena was resting. Markus's Cyndaquil walked slowly up to the wolf. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked. The Mightyena moved his head to look at the Cyndaquil. "I'm fine thank you. Why did you come to see me? I'm not a trained Pokémon like you are." Hima's Pikachu joined Cyndaquil. "Whether you're trained or not, it doesn't change the fact we're all Pokémon." "Yeah! We're all kind of like family in a way." Yume's Riolu said to support Pikachu's statement. Cassidy's Turtwig asked, "Since you're a Mightyena, how come you're in the Unova region?" The Mightyena returned to his original position. "I was living in Hoenn before I came here. I was enjoying my life in the town of Slateport, but when I decided to take a nap in a box, I was sealed in with a few bags and put on a boat. When I arrived in the big city with lots of buildings I bolted across a bridge into this forest. I've been here since then surviving on what I could find. Apparently I had intruded upon the Stoutland's territory and they chased me up until the point where I met the one you call Markus." Hima's Piplup waddled up and placed a wing on the Mightyena's head. "I think you'll be fine by tomorrow. Then you can return to the forest." "I guess you're right. Thank you for chatting a bit with me." The Pokémon returned to the campfire, but Markus's Cyndaquil stayed behind. "You know, if you want to, you can stay with us. I don't know my trainer that much since we just met, but I'm sure he'd welcome you into the group." He then left for the fire where the other Pokémon had arrived at. The Mightyena thought on what the Cyndaquil had said. _'You can stay with us…'_ "No one has ever been that open to having me around." The talking around the fire had died down earlier, but the Mightyena didn't notice it right away while thinking. "Maybe it is a good idea to stay with this Markus. He didn't seem fazed by a Mightyena being in this region Unova." The wolf moved into a sitting position to look better at the four people, which were now sleeping around the slowly dying fire. "Perhaps I will stay with them. I can't just stay for safety though. I need to get stronger." With a new resolution the Mightyena walked slowly over to where the trainers were and laid down beside Markus, who was on his back sprawled next to a log.

The morning sun began sending its beams through the surrounding trees and into the small clearing with Hima, Yume, Markus and Cassidy still asleep next to their fire pit. Markus felt something brush past his nose, but as he tried to move whatever it was, the same object would continue to pester him. Markus sat up and rubbed his eyes to see what was tickling his nose. Behind him was the Mightyena from yesterday. The Pokémon opened his eyes and looked up at Markus. "Why are you still here? I thought you'd be off on your own journey by the time we woke up." The wolf stretched and walked over to Markus's satchel. He nosed around in it and rolled out one of the Pokéballs, which was inside, over to Markus. "Are you saying you want to join our travels Mightyena?" The Pokémon nodded and rolled the Pokéball closer. Markus picked it up and expanded it. He held the white button out and the Mightyena pushed its nose up against it, which caused the Pokéball to initiate the capture process. Markus held the wobbling ball in his hand, until it stopped. Markus opened the Pokéball and his new Mightyena came out. "I've never thought about it, but I should think of names for you and Cyndaquil." Upon hearing his name Cyndaquil stirred and looked over to Markus. "Quil?" Markus picked up the fire mouse, "Cyndaquil I'd like you to meet our newest friend… Domino." He set his Cyndaquil down to meet Domino. "Now, about a name for you…" Markus sat back and stared into the air to ponder a name for his Cyndaquil. Meanwhile, his Cyndaquil was talking with Domino. "I see you decided to join us. You even have a name now!" "I hope I can help out when I can. Do you know what a 'Domino' is?" Cyndaquil shrugged. "I know!" Markus said excitedly, "What about Orion?" His Cyndaquil looked at Markus. "Do you think the name sounds good Cyndaquil?" His question was replied with, "Cyndaquil!" "Orion it is then." Without noticing that his friends had woken up to his talking he started checking over Domino for any residual injuries. "Would you mind explaining to me WHY you decided to wake us up this early Makus?" Yume said still with her eyes closed. Markus jumped at the sound of a voice. "Sorry Yume. I didn't think about that. I guess I was excited when I found good names for Orion and Domino." Hima rose out her sleep, "Orion and Domino?" "Yeah! Orion is the name for my Cyndaquil, and Domino for Mightyena." It was Cassidy's turn to speak up, "Mightyena?" The three of them rubbed their eyes and looked at Domino sitting next to Markus. "Is that the Mightyena from last night?" Hima asked. Markus nodded. "Domino's tail was brushing against my nose this morning, and that's when I found out that he wanted to stay with us." Domino laid his head in Markus's and jumped a little when Markus started to scratch his head. "Afterwards, I thought he needed a name so I called him Domino. When I gave him a name I thought Cyndaquil should have one, so I thought about it and came up with Orion." Yume stretched and tried to get up with little effort, but decided to just lay back down. "Maybe we should find names for our Pokémon Hima. I never thought about giving them names." Hima actually got up and stretched her back. "I'm going to start thinking about it, but I don't know a good name for them off the top of my head. Maybe I'll think of some later, but in the meantime I think I will find some leftover food for breakfast." Markus and Cassidy got up as well, but Yume was asleep again with her Riolu on top of her head. The other three trainers prepared a quick meal of leftovers and left some for Yume before they left to go train their Pokémon. "Do you know what moves Domino currently knows Markus?" Cassidy asked. "That's what I'm hoping to find out when we're training. I'm hoping that the Pokédex can tell me something." Markus replied. They reached a small boulder field next to the same river they found earlier. "Looks like a good of spot as we can ask for." Hima said. "Come on out Piplup!" The penguin appeared from its Pokéball and jumped into the river. "Piplup!" Cassidy brought out her Turtwig and began practicing on some boulders and honing the power of Turtwig's Razor Leaf. "Alright Domino, let's see what your moveset is." Markus activated his Pokédex and let it gather Mightyena's information. "So you know the moves Bite, Double Team, Iron Tail, and… Dark Pulse? Never heard of that move before. Want to give Dark Pulse a try Domino?" "Yena!" Domino turned around to face a rock and let out a beam of what appeared to be purplish lines intertwined together. It impacted the rock and sent up a cloud of smoke and dust leaving an indent in the stone. "That's so cool!" They kept honing the moves of their Pokémon and enjoyed the good weather.

Two trainers walked out of the trees to find Hima, Markus, and Cassidy training. "What do you think they're going to accomplish by attacking rocks Brett?" "No idea Claude. I think they need some lessons in training. Go to it Gengar." The shadow Pokémon summoned a Shadow Ball and launched towards where Domino and Orion were located. An Ember from Yume's Charmander intercepted the projectile from Gengar. "Who do you think you are attacking people without a head's up notice?!" Brett looked at Yume with a flat look. "I don't believe you know who you're talking to." "I don't care if you're the Queen of England! It's not right to attack other trainer's Pokémon like that!" Markus and the others caught the sound of Yume and the two people talking. "What's wrong Yume?" Hima asked. "These two bozos tried attacking Domino and Orion while your backs were turned!" "You tried to do what?" Orion's lit up with fire. "You don't seem to understand. We've been tracking that Mightyena for quite some time now. Our boss would like him back." Claude said. "What do you mean?" Markus said. "Pokémon Hunters!" Cassidy whispered. "Finally someone who isn't clueless." Brett said, "Now hand over the Mightyena." "No." Markus said. "What did you say brat?" Claude said. Markus repeated himself again more forcefully, "I said No." Claude glared at Markus. "Who do you think you are telling us no?" "I'm the trainer of Domino. He chose to travel with us and I'm not going to let him down by giving into creeps like you." Brett nodded at Gengar, and it lunged forward using Shadow Claw. Domino swung its tail around and the Gengar was met with an Iron Tail to its face. It went reeling backwards from the force of the attack. "Then it looks like we'll have to take the Mightyena by force." Claude said, "Come on out Houndour and Jolteon." "We'll need your help too Bronzor and Pinsir." Markus stepped back, with Domino and Orion, creating a battlefield. "I'll help you out Markus." Cassidy's Turtwig jumped into place next to Orion. "Don't forget Pip and I!" Hima said as they joined in. "Let's go Riolu!" The hunters five Pokémon were met by the five of the trainers. "I don't like the look of this Claude." "They're just kids Brett. They shouldn't be a problem. Look at their runts of Pokémon." Orion growled at the name the hunters called him. "Use Swift Orion!" Orion shot out golden stars, but when they impacted Brett's Gengar, they did nothing. "Don't you know Normal Type moves don't affect Ghost Type Pokémon?" Brett said mockingly. "Not yet they don't. Use Foresight Riolu!" The Gengar stood aghast as another wave of stars impacted the Ghost. "Thanks Yume. Think you can get the other Ghost Pokémon?" "Sure thing." Brett and Claude recovered their composures quickly and responded with a volley of attacks. "Bronzor use Rapid Spin, Pinsir use Rock Throw, and Gengar use Shadow Claw!" Claude issued commands for his Pokémon, "Use Pin Missle Jolteon and use Flamethrower Houndour!" The attacks of the Pokémon Hunter's Pokémon were met by the attacks of the four trainers. Orion and Pip rushed into the smoke cloud to get the jump on their foes, but as they entered the smoke a white light began to shine brightly. "What's going on in there?" Markus said. Hima called out, "PIP!" The field was bathed in white light and held the watchers' attentions.


	3. Chapter 3

Someone New

The light dissipated from the smoke and the smoke followed the light leaving the Bronzor and Houndour knocked out. A few feet away from the two fallen Pokémon was a Quilava and Prinplup. "They evolved?!" Claude said loudly and very surprised by the sudden turn in events, "This isn't good Brett. The only evolved Pokémon on our team is Gengar. Two secondary evolutions are more powerful compared to one final evolution." "Gengar will be fine. Use Shadow Ball!" The ghost summoned the ball, and threw it towards the newly evolved Pokémon. Orion and Pip jumped to the side and let the attack hit the ground. Pip's arm began glowing and he jumped forward. His attack landed a direct hit on the Jolteon. Orion followed up with a Flamethrower that impacted Brett's Pinsir. Both Pokémon were knocked out with one hit. The Gengar stood waiting for its trainer to give it a command. Markus called out to Domino, "Use Dark Pulse!" Domino rushed forward to join Orion. He let out the same attack as earlier and sent the Gengar reeling backwards. Claude and Brett staggered backwards as their last hope fell to Domino. Both of them returned their knocked out Pokémon and began running away. "Don't think this is the last you'll see us! We won't forget what you've done!" With that the two Pokémon Hunters were gone. Orion and Pip ran back to where their trainers were. Markus kneeled down to give Orion a hug. "I can't believe you evolved so early Orion. I guess you were stronger than I expected. Hima was doing the same with her Prinplup. "I was wondering when you were going to evolve Pip." "Prin, Prinplup." Yume looked down at her Riolu. "When do you plan on evolving?" The jackal just shrugged and Yume sighed. "Guess we'll just have to wait and see then." "I think we should continue to Striaton. I don't like the luck we've had lately." "I agree Cassidy." Hima said. The four of them grabbed their packs and walked towards the path from yesterday.

Yuki and her Purrloin were enjoying their evening meal in the Pokémon Center while discussing their strategy for the Striaton Gym. "I don't know what our best chance to win is Victoria. We could easily take out Cilan's Pansage with Jazz or Ella, but his Lillipup isn't the easiest to beat, especially with its Howl boost. I don't think Azure will be able to defeat Chile's Pansear either because she's not that strong yet. Bolt still doesn't trust me enough since we found him by chance in the Safari Zone." The Purrloin leaned her head to the side and looked at Yuki quizzically. "I guess we should try training more then. That's the only way we can get stronger." Her conversation was cut short by the sound of Markus, Cassidy, Hima, and Yume entering through the front door. "So this is where Striaton City was." "Really Yume, really?!" Yuki looked over her shoulder to look at the rag tag group. "I can't help that I'm direction challenged. Blame the compass." Yume said back to Hima. "At least a compass knows which way is north." "I know which way is north! It's…that way…no…" Yume sunk into silence trying to get her bearings. Markus and Cassidy walked up to the counter. "Welcome to the Pokémon Center. How may I help you?" asked the Nurse Joy. "If you have a room available or know of a place where we could stay the night, that would be nice. We also have some Pokémon that need to be healed up." Markus said. "There's a hotel two blocks down from here. We can take your Pokémon for you and have them back to their usual selves in five minutes." The Nurse Joy said. An Audino walked around the corner and went over to where Yume and Hima were to collect their Pokéballs. Markus and Cassidy placed theirs in the tray along with the ones the Audino collected. Both of them returned to where Yume and Hima sat down. "Nurse Joy said there was a hotel a couple blocks down from the Pokémon Center. The Pokémon should be healed in five minutes." Cassidy said to their friends. "Then I guess we'll be heading there afterwards." Hima said. Yuki sat listening to their conversation some more, but didn't look directly at them. _'I wonder where they came from.' _ She thought to herself. The Audino assistant brought a small pushcart over with the Pokéballs of the trainers. "Audino!" They all grabbed their Pokémon and thanked bother Nurse Joy and the Audino, then headed out to find the hotel. Yuki held out her hand and Victoria climbed up her arm and onto her shoulder. Both of them left the Pokémon Center and headed to the same hotel described by Nurse Joy earlier.

Markus and his friends arrived at the hotel and walked up to the front desk. "Do you have any rooms available?" Cassidy asked the clerk. "Yes there are plenty of vacant rooms. I can give you room 203. It has plenty of room for the four of you." The clerk had them sign the check in book and then handed a room key to Cassidy. "Enjoy your stay!" The clerk said as they walked towards the stairs. Once they entered the room they piled their packs in the closet and flopped down in whatever was available. "What are our plans now that we're here in Striaton?" Cassidy said. Orion was lying in Markus' lap dozing while his head was being rubbed. "I plan on challenging Striaton's Gym Leader." Markus said in reply. Yume tried to jump up in response too, but decided that it wasn't worth the dramatic effect. "I want to challenge them too!" "You'll have to choose which one you want to battle though." Cassidy said. Hima and Yume looked confused. Cassidy explained, "Striaton has three Gym Leaders: Cilan, Chile and Cress. All of them are brothers, but each use either grass, fire or water type Pokémon." "I haven't heard of that before." Hima said. "I guess that it depends now on which one I want to battle." Yume said. After some planning, Hima cooked up some dinner with the food available, and created a form of fried ham with rice, butter, and a little bit of sugar. Afterwards they went to sleep, but in Markus' case he just fell asleep on the floor.

The next morning Yuki got up early to train her team for a battle against one of the Gym Leaders. Her and her team of six was jogging next to a river as they worked on building their speed. "If your opponent can't hit you then they can't beat you." Yuki said over her shoulder. Her Growlithe and Vulpix were keeping a steady pace, but Azurill was starting to lag behind since she didn't have front arms to keep balance with. Out of a bush a net was fired out enveloped the Azurill and it gave out a cry. "Azurill!" Yuki, along with her other Pokémon stopped to see what happened. Azure was trapped underneath a weighted net. "What's going on here?!" A girl stepped out from the bush with the launcher over her shoulder. "My name is Rose, and I'm here for your Azurill." A Zigzagoon growled at Yuki and her Pokémon. "You're not taking my Azurill! Jazz use Ember!" Her Growlithe shot out orange bursts at the Zigzagoon. The ferret used Swift and both attacks collided. Another net shot out from behind and trapped Yuki's Zubat. "It's about time you showed up Crag." A big man with a Throh appeared with another launcher. "I was getting some breakfast. Can't a guy keep himself healthy Rose?" "Ha ha very funny. Just help me with this girl's Pokémon so we can get our pay check." Yuki stood with her other four Pokémon crowding around her.

Markus was still asleep while his friends were standing around him. "What should we do?" "I say we use him as a carpet rug." Yume, that's just cruel." A subtle sound of an explosion came from the trees, which caused the three girls to look out the window. "What's going on out there?" Hima said. Markus got up and rubbed his eyes. "Why are there fireworks going on outside?" Hima smacked him over the head. "They're not fireworks. I think they're explosions." "Should we go check it out then?" Markus said while rubbing his head. Cassidy pulled on her left boot. "I think so in order to make sure no one is hurt. I'd also like to see what's making that happen." The four of them grabbed their shoes and ran towards the stairwell. On their way out Cassidy called back to the clerk. "We'll be back, so don't clean out our room!" The four of them ran off to the small trail of smoke rising from the trees.

Ella used a Will-O-Wisp attack, but the Throh just batted it aside. The Pokémon Hunters had netted two more of Yuki's Pokémon and they were waiting to get a clear shot at the Purrloin and Vulpix. "Why is this so hard?!" Crag said as another one of his nets missed the Purrloin. Rose's Zigzagoon lunged at the Vulpix, but was enveloped by another Will-O-Wisp. Yuki had her back against the wall. Four of her Pokémon were trapped in nets, Ella and Victoria were trying their best to not get captured by the nets, and they weren't able to defeat the other Pokémon. _'What can I do?' _Yuki said to herself as the two hunters closed in. She braced herself for the worst as Rose pulled the trigger of her launcher. The net was intercepted by a Prinplup's Metal Slash. Yuki looked at the shreds of the once flying net as they fell to the ground. Yume's Riolu came out of the bushes and landed a Force Palm right to the Throh's chest. "Where did these Pokémon come from?!" Crag said astonished as his partner was thrown backwards. Yume and Hima were the first to arrive, but Markus and Cassidy arrived shortly after them. "More Pokémon Hunters?" Yume said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Pip strolled over to where Hima was standing. "Looks like it Yume." Orion stepped forward with his flames burning aggressively. "We need to free those Pokémon!" Markus said, and was followed up by Cassidy, "Use Razor Leaf JuJu!" Her Turtwig swung its head around and sent sharp leafs towards the nets. Crag's Throh used Protect to stop the attack. "Let's get going Rose. We can't lose these or else Thorn won't be happy to see us back at the base." Crag said as he loaded the trapped Pokémon into a small trailer. Rose nodded, "Right!" Both hunters bolted to the motorcycles and started driving away, but Markus sent out Domino. The Mightyena appeared from the white light and looked at his trainer. "I need you to chase down those two Domino. Think you can handle them?" "Yena!" Domino bolted after the retreating duo, while Hima and Cassidy went over to Yuki. "Are you alright?" Hima asked softly. Yuki fell to her knees, still staring at the shrinking dust cloud. "They took my Pokémon." She whispered. Yume pulled out a green and black Pokéball from her bag. "I need your help. This is very important, and requires you not being lazy." From the Dusk ball an Umbreon appeared. It sat down and looked at Yume. "Didn't you hear what I said?!" Yume said again. "I need you to help with getting back stolen Pokémon!" The eeveelution turned away and started to clean its face. Yume sighed. "Why can't you just listen to me like you used to before traveling?"

Crag and Rose looked over to one another and smirked. "Looks like we made it away safely." Crag said. Before Rose could give her reply Domino's Dark Pulse collided with the trailer. The vehicle and vessel behind it swerved and fell over. Both slid a little ways before coming to a complete stop. Crag pulled his motorcycle to a stop and looked back to see the Mightyena staring at him. "I need your help again Throh!" The red Pokémon came out of the Pokéball and stared at the Mightyena. "Use Low Kick!" As the Throh went to attack Yume's Riolu jumped forward and landed a Bone Rush in the Throh's face. The little jackal looked back at Domino. He nodded and proceeded to breaking the locked trailer with an Iron Tail. The door remained locked each time Domino's attack hit the handle. From inside the container he could hear the cries of Pokémon inside. Riolu was holding her own against the Throh. "Just hold still you little nuisance!" The Throh yelled at the Riolu. After sidestepping a Rock Throw and landing a Force Palm to the Throh's stomach, she retorted, "I don't think I'll be doing that. Wouldn't be good for my health." "The lock won't break!" Domino called over to Riolu. "Here tag out." Domino rushed in and dealt a solid slam with an Iron Tail. Riolu ran over to the trailer and looked at the lock. "Is anyone there?" A voice called out from inside. "What's going on out there?" "I'm working on getting you all out, just hang on." She stepped back and prepared to break the lock, but Rose had recovered enough and sent her Zigzagoon to attack the Riolu. The Zigzagoon tackled the Riolu and jumped off. "You won't get the Pokémon that easily cha cha cha." The ferret said. Riolu got back up. "I was asked by my trainer- 'When are you going to evolve?' At the time I wasn't sure, but now I definitely know. That time is now."

Markus and his friends were running to catch up with Domino and Yume's Riolu. "How far do you think they went?" Miku asked. "Not sure, but by the looks of things, they went a little further. The tire tracks are still visible." Hima replied over her shoulder. "I think I see a light not to far ahead of us. Maybe that's one of the motorcycle's headlights." Yume said.

The Zigzagoon ran towards his trainer for help, but was cut off by the newly evolved Riolu into Lucario. "Where do you think you're going?" She said. "EEP!" The ferret slid and turned in another direction, but got hit from behind with a Bone Rush. The Zigzagoon rolled a little bit and fainted. "Now back to the trailer door." Lucario walked back to the door as Domino and the Throh continued to battle. "First it was the little upstart and now an annoying pooch. What next?" "How about something hot?" The Throh turned towards the new voice and was met by Orion's Flame Wheel. "MY FACE IS ON FIRE!" The Throh ran around leaving a trail of smoke behind. "Thanks Orion. Wasn't sure what I'd do. He didn't seem to be getting any weaker." Domino said with relief. "No problem. Markus and his friends will be arriving shortly. Along with that Yuki whose Pokémon were stolen." "If you two Chatots don't mind, think you could lend a hand over here?" They both looked over at Lucario standing impatiently. "Sorry about that." They both hurried over to help out as Markus and the others arrived.

"There's the trailer and the two hunters." Markus said. Crag dumped water from a water bottle onto his Throh's head. "Rose, the runts have caught up with us!" "We need to get out of here. We'll have to explain this to Thorn. Either way he's not going to be happy." "You're right Crag. Let's go!" She withdrew her Zigzagoon and hopped onto the back of Crag's motorcycle leaving the totaled one and the trailer behind. "Something tells me this isn't the last time we'll see Pokémon Hunters." Cassidy said. Juju ran over to where Orion, Domino and Yume's Lucario were. "The lock won't budge!" "What if I heat it up and then both you and Domino use an attack against it." Juju chimed in, "I'll help too!" They stepped back and let Orion shoot out a Flamethrowet and soon had the lock and part of the door glowing. He stopped the fire and as soon as he did, Lucario came in with a Bone Rush, Domino with an Iron Tail, and Juju used Razor Leaf. All three of the attacks broke the lock and sent the pieces flying. "Yes we did it!" Yume's Lucario grabbed the handle to door and swung it open. Inside were at least a dozen Pokémon trapped in cages or water tanks.

Yuki rushed over when she saw the door to the trailer was open. She pushed past Yume's Lucario and looked inside. "My Pokémon!" Her team was still inside nets, and she quickly undid the knot created by the weights. She brought them out of the trailer quickly and looked over them all carefully to look for any injuries. Yume ran over to her Lucario and hugged her. "YAY! You finally evolved! I bet you did when you were fighting off the Pokémon, while trying to save the ones captured." Her Lucario nodded, and Yume looked at her Umbreon. "Unlike someone I know!" The sable eeveelution didn't pay attention to the remark and begin pawing at a small flower. Markus walked over to both of his Pokémon and patted their heads. "Good job guys. Let's get these Pokémon out of this trailer." Juju ran over to Cassidy and jumped into her arms. "Tur Turtwig!" "You did a nice job too Juju. Let's help Markus out with carrying the cages." The trailer was soon emptied and the uncaged Pokémon stood in a small group. "What do we do with them? I'm sure none of them know the area too well since some are from different regions." Hima said. "I'm not sure. We could take them to Striaton's Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy would be able to heal them, and she may also have a solution." Markus said. "Let's take them to Nurse Joy then! Follow me!" Yume walked off confidentally marching. Her Lucario stood where she was looking confused. Hima sighed and called out. "Striaton is the other way Yume!" Yume came back with her head down and arms hanging. "Why can't I have the ability to tell which way is which?" She said overly dramatically. "Did anyone see where that girl went?" Markus said. They looked around and didn't see her. Cassidy said, "She must have rushed her Pokémon to Nurse Joy or something. I don't see either around anymore." Markus knelt down in front of the small group of Pokémon. "If you'll follow us, we'll make sure to get you fixed up, and maybe back to where you came from." Orion supported Markus' statement. The Magikarp and Feebas had to be carried in the tanks from the trailer since they required water.

It was late afternoon when the four trainers came back to Striaton. "It may be worth it helping Pokémon out, but carrying a tank isn't as much fun." Markus said. The Magikarp swam around a bit letting out an occasional air bubble. "We're just a block away from the Pokémon center, so you won't have to carry the tank much longer." Cassidy said. Hima was carrying a tank that had a Feebas inside. "I have to agree with Markus. The water moving doesn't make it easy to hold steady." The automated doors opened and the four of them, along with the small group of Pokémon walked inside. Nurse Joy and her Audino ran over to them. "Where did you find all these Pokémon?" She asked. Cassidy answered, "We ran into a couple of Pokémon Hunters that had them inside a trailer. We brought them here to be checked over by you, so that we know they're healthy." "I'll see what I can do for them. Come along Audino. Bring the Pokémon too." "Audino!" The assistant Pokémon had a cart for the Magikarp and Feebas. Yume, Hima, Markus and Cassidy sat down and rested their feet after walking most of the morning. "Sorry we didn't have Nurse Joy look you over Orion and Domino. We'll let her once she's done with the other Pokémon." The Quilava and Mightyena curled up on the floor next to Markus' chair. "I feel like we need to have a group naming session for our Pokémon. Markus has given his two names, but only a couple of us have given names." Cassidy said. "It does help with preventing confusion in battles." Hima said. Yume sat in her chair thinking about names. "I'm thinking about Riley for Lucario and Cinder for Charmander, but I don't know about Umbreon. Ever since leaving Johto, he hasn't listened to me at all. All he does is just sit around anymore." "Pikachu is the only one I haven't given a nickname to. Perhaps Shinobi? Yes I like that name. Shinobi it is." Hima declared. Cassidy looked over to her Turtwig. "All I have so far is Juju, but I'm sure I'll find other Pokémon along the way though!" Nurse Joy came out from the back rooms. "I have good news and bad news." She said. "What is it?" Markus asked. "Good news is that all the Pokémon will be fine. The bad news is that the Pokémon from foreign regions can't be sent back for a month. There's no room on transportation boats, and since they don't have Pokéballs we can't send them through the machine. By the end of the month, the Pokémon will be to domesticate to be able to survive in the wild. The local Pokémon can be sent out into the wild though without any complications." "Will we need to take them into our group then?" Hima asked. "That's one option. It's up to the Pokémon if they want to go with you. It'd be the best choice, but I can send them to a Pokémon School or keep them here." She responded. "I think we should let the Pokémon decide. Give them the choice on whether or not they want to stay here or come with us." Cassidy said. "I'll bring them out then. While they're doing so, I can take care of your other Pokémon." Nurse Joy guided the Pokémon to the back room and led the dozen of rescue Pokémon from the back. She knelt down in front of them. "These nice people have an offer they want to ask you. If you want, you can go with them and travel around or you can stay here. You'll travel back and forth from the Pokémon School and here though. It's up to you, so make your own decisions." Nurse Joy stood up and walked to the side. The Pokémon stood silently and nonmoving. Then the Scyther walked forward and towards Markus. "Scy. Scyther." Before it reached Markus the Scyther turned around and looked at the other Pokémon it had been trapped with. The Magikarp jumped in and out of its tank. "Karp! Karp! Magikarp!" The Scyther nodded and looked at Markus, then pointed to the Magikarp. "Scy!" Markus walked over to the Scyther. "Magikarp wants to come with you? Is that what you're saying Scyther?" The mantis nodded. Markus walked over to the tank and picked it up with the Magikarp inside. "Welcome aboard Magikarp." "Magikarp!" Markus returned to where Orion and Domino had arrived, after being treated. A Ralts and an Anorith went over to where Cassidy was. A Nuzleaf walked over to Hima, while carrying the tank with Feebas inside. "Nuz Nuzleaf." Hima picked up the container before replying, "Welcome aboard Nuzleaf." Yume watched as a Deino padded over to her. "What are you supposed to be, a Dinosaur?" She bent down and stared at the Pokémon through squinted eyes with a finger pointing at it. The Deino opened its mouth and clamped onto Yume's finger. "Ow." She tried to pull her finger out, but Deino clamped down a little harder. "OW!" Yume placed her other hand and pushed against the Pokémon to try and free her hand, but Deino clamped down harder and started shaking its head back and forth. "MOTHER OF GOD LET GO OF MY FINGER!" The small dinosaur began to chase Yume as she finally retrieved her finger. "Don't you come near me with that mouth, do you hear me!" Nurse Joy looked towards the remaining Pokémon. "Do anymore of you want to go with them?" The remainder of the captives either avoided her or shook their heads. "Alright," Nurse Joy let her Audino guide them to the back room again. "Take these Pokéballs and use them on your new friends. It's the least I can do for now." The four of them grabbed two apiece, except for Yume. "Thank you Nurse Joy. We promise to not bring anymore troubles here." Hima said. The trainers touched the button to their new partners and waited for them to stop lighting up. The four of them waved goodbye to Nurse Joy before they went back to the hotel in order to prepare for tomorrow's events. Shortly afterwards, everyone was asleep, but Markus was still awake. He looked over at Orion and Domino sleeping with Echo, his new Scyther, and Runt, his Magikarp. "Hey Runt, I see you're still awake." The Magikarp looked over to Markus with a somewhat sad expression, or whetever passes for sad as a fish. Markus put his hands up, "No I don't mean it as if you're weak. I know that you'll be stronger than other Magikarp one day. That's why I named you Runt, so that when I send you out to battle, people will think you're weak at first, but then you'll show them. Imagine the look on someone's face if I were to say 'Come on out Runt!' and a Gyrados came out. Think about that. I didn't want you to feel like you were weak or anything." Runt's expression changed to smile. Markus smiled and yawned. "Guess we better get some rest. Tomorrow we'll challenge the Striaton City gym. Since you and Echo joined my team I have a plan for tomorrow. Goodnight." With that both Markus and his Magikarp went to sleep as the moon with its stars began to rise into the sky.


	4. Chapter 4

Challenger Fever

The four friends were beginning to stir from their dreams before they were all woken up by Yume crying out, "LET'S GO CHALLENGE THE STRIATON GYM!" Yume already had her clothes on and was running out the door while Hima, Cassidy and Markus were just staring at the open door from their beds. "Hima, is she always like this?" Markus asked. "Give or take yes- it depends on the situations and events." She replied. After getting dressed and cleaned up the others left the room to check out and headed to the Striaton gym. Yume was standing outside nervously pushing her fingers together with her Pokémon in front of her. "I should have thought things through. I don't even have a plan for either one of the gym leaders." Cinder and Riley looked at each other and looked at Yume. "Char char!" She looked down still confused. Riley walked forward and looked into his trainer's eyes. "What are you two getting at?" The Lucario sighed and smacked her. "Ooh right. Cinder can get his Pansage." Both of them nodded. "Alright, then. We have a plan of action!"She returned her Umbreon and Deino to their Pokéballs as her friends joined her in front of the gym. "I told you Yume. Cool it when you're about to challenge a gym." Hima said. "I know, but come on. It's the first one in awhile." "Can we just get inside and find the gym leaders already?" Markus said. "Yeah! I figured out my plan too!" "Let me guess Yume. You just figured it out right before we arrived." "Maybe…" Yume looked away while Hima stared at her for a bit. Markus walked past them and opened the doors to the gym. "You two figure out when you plan on coming inside. Cassidy and I will be inside waiting." Yume ran to the door as Hima calmly walked to it.

Inside there were easily a dozen or more tables with a few people eating their breakfast. Yume looked around, "Is this some kind of joke?! This isn't a gym, it's a bloody restaurant!" A waitress walked up to the four new people that had entered the restaurant. "A menu for you four to look over? We offer the best quality food around." She said. Markus took the menu from her. "Thanks." He opened up the tri-colored menu and looked through the list of items. "Ah here it is." "How can you think about food at a time like this Markus?" Cassidy asked. He handed her the menu before putting in his order. "I'd like the Battle Royale if you don't mind." The waitress smiled, "Sure thing. There's a challenger already here that arrived a few minutes ahead of you. You're all welcome to come and watch the battle. That's why there is hardly anyone in the dining room." "Well. I guess Markus wasn't after food. Unlike some people I know." Hima glanced over at Yume as she tried to figure out what things said. "The menu is in French! I can't read French!" The waitress guided the four of them through the tables and to the back room where the battles took place.

Cilan, Chili, and Cress were standing on one side of the field while their challenger was at the other end picking out which gym leader he wanted to battle. Markus, Cassidy, Hima, and Yume walked around to the bleachers set up on the side of gym's field. Cilan called out to the challenger, "Have you made a decision yet?" The trainer looked out from under his straw trilby. "I have. I'll battle with Chili and his Pansear." Chili jumped up and walked forward smiling. "Sounds like it's time to put the heat on then!" The flame haired gym leader ran forward with a Pokéball in hand. "Come on out Pansear!" A red and orange monkey appeared from the white light. "Pansear!" Markus and Cassidy both had their Pokédexes out and were scanning Chili's Pansear. "I've seen a few on a couple shows before, but this should be awesome to watch up close and personal." Markus said. They watched closely waiting to see the challenger's Pokémon. He pulled a Pokéball from his belt tossed it towards the field. "Let's go Titan!" A Charmeleon came out from the Pokéball and stood there sizing up his opponent. Cilan stood to the side and raised his hands. "Both trainers have selected their Pokémon. Let the battle begin!" "Titan, start off with Scratch!" The fire lizard bowed down and jumped forward towards Chili's Pansear. "Dodge it Pansear and ignite the fire with a Flamethrower!" Pansear jumped above Titan and looked down seeing the lizard miss its mark. A jet of flame erupted from its mouth and landed a hit on Titan. Pansear landed behind its attacker and watched the Charmeleon shake off the dust and turn around. "I like your Charmeleon. He has the feel of a warm brick oven and the sizzle of a hot pepper." "Thanks. I think… I haven't met a Pokémon connoisseur before. Follow up with Dragon Rage Titan!" "Charmeleon!" He shot out a purple blast of fire that met its mark. "Pansear!" "Use Dig Pansear!" The chimp flipped backwards before burrowing into the ground. Titan watched the ground around him waiting to see where the Pansear would pop out. "Keep still Titan. Wait for your opponent to make his move." "Add some sizzle to your Dig Pansear and combine it with a Fire Punch!" The ground next to Titan cracked open and Pansear shot out with his arm cloaked in fire. "Paaaansear!" Titan staggered backwards from the attack and watched the monkey disappear into the ground again. "Keep the fire burning Pansear!" The trainer's Charmeleon continued to take a beating while landing a few hits every once in awhile. Titan stood breathing heavily as he grew impatient with the Pansear. "Titan! It's time to open up the nest!" Titan nodded, "Char!" The fire lizard approached one of the holes created by Pansear's Dig. "Use Overheat!" Titan began to glow read from the heat and let loose a torrent of white hot fire into the hole. The ground began to steam as the fire coursed through the tunnel system, and fire spouts began to shoot out from the other holes. Yume, Hima, Cassidy, and Markus leaned back from the intense heat of the Charmeleon's attack. "How does that Charmeleon already know that attack?" Yume said. "Panseeeeaaaar!" The red and orange monkey shot out from one of the holes and into the air. "Finish things up with Flamethrower!" Titan looked towards the flailing monkey as it was falling from the air and fired a jet of flame hitting Pansear directly. Titan stood watching a dust cloud rise where Chili's Pansear had crashed. Cilan waited for the dust to clear to see how Pansear had ended up. Pansear staggered out of the small crater before falling forward knocked out. He held up one his hands signaling the challenger had won, "Pansear is unable to battle! Charmeleon wins!" Chili pulled out his Pansear's Pokéball and withdrew it. "Looks like your fire took the air from mine. Congratulations on your victory." They both met at where the referee was and Chili handed the trainer the Trio Badge. "Thanks for the battle Chili."

The trainer started walking towards the door to the exit, but was intercepted by Yume sliding to a stop. "Listen buddy, how can your Charmeleon already know a move like Overheat?!" The trainer stopped looking at her with a confused look. "Titan has always known Overheat. A friend of mine has a Charizard that knows it and when he sent me a Charmander egg, Titan hatched knowing the move, along with Flamethrower." Hima and the others walked up to where Yume had stopped the trainer with his Charmeleon. "He's right Yume," Cassidy started, "It is possible for a Pokémon to have moves passed down from their parent or parents." "Oh." Yume stepped back and let him walk by, but he stopped after a few steps. "Are any of you planning to challenge the gym today?" They all raised their hands except for Cassidy. The trainer walked back to them. "If you don't mind I'll stay and watch. It'd be fun to watch you battle." Cilan, Cress and Chili were standing and waiting to see what was going to happen. "I guess so. All that remains is who is going to go first." Markus said. Yume pulled out one of her Pokéballs. "I'm ready for this." She ran to the field and pointed towards Cilan. "I challenge you to a gym battle Cilan!" The gym leader smirked and pulled out a Pokéball. "I accept your challenge. Would you mind judging the battle Cress?" His brother smiled, "Sure thing Cilan." Cress walked to where the middle of the field was. "Alright, here we go Cinder!" Yume tossed her Pokéball and her Charmander appeared. "Char Charmander!" "This should be quite the mix of ingredients for this dish. Come on out Pansage!" A green monkey similar to Pansear appeared from the Pokéball. "Pansage!" Cress held his hands up, "Let the battle between the challenger and Cilan begin!" "Start off with Ember Cinder!" The small lizard shot a small burst of orange flecks at the Pansage. "Counter it with Bullet Seed!" "Pansage!" The orange flecks were stopped with greenish seeds from Pansage. "Add in some flavor with Bite!" Cilan's Pansage jumped from the smoke and latched onto Cinder's tail. "Charmander Char!" The little lizard spun around trying to get the monkey off of his tail.

The trainer from the previous battle sat on the bleachers watching the battle between Cilan and Yume. He leaned over to Hima. "She's a bit… over enthusiastic about things isn't she." She sighed, "Yeah, she is." "If she was more focused on a strategy she could tell her Charmander to flare his tail fire up to burn Pansage. That way Pansage takes some damage and leaves a window open to get a direct hit in." Markus looked over at the two trainers discussing Yume's tactics. "You seem to know your battle strategies." The trainer smiled, "I've had my share of battles and experiences." Markus couldn't help but notice that this trainer seemed familiar for some reason. An explosion drew their attention back to the battle. Cinder had managed to get Pansage off of his tail and landed a Scratch on it. "Use Ember again!" Yume said "Add the final touches with a Solarbeam Pansage!" A glowing ball appeared in Pansage's hands and started absorbing the sunlight. Cinder's attack landed, but Pansage was unfazed from the attack. "Paaaansage!" A beam of white-yellow light shot from Pansage's hands and made full contact with Cinder. "Chaaaar!" The lizard landed heavily a few feet from where it was before the attack. "Oh God no!" Yume had her hands to the side of her head watching her Charmander slowly get back up. "Can you still fight Cinder?" "Char!" She recovered from the shock of the attack and stood ready. Cinder stood staring at Cilan's Pansage with scratches from attacks everywhere. "I see that my Pansage's last attack wasn't enough to serve up the final dish, but that can be changed. Use Bullet Seed Pansage!" The green monkey opened its mouth and began firing the green pellets at Cinder again. "Jump and flip over them Cinder!" The lizard jumped up and as it moved up the fire on its tail absorbed the grass attack. "Use Ember with everything you've got!" "Chaaaaaar!" Cinder's tail flame grew in size and started flaring out and his Ember turned into a torrent of the orange flakes of fire. "Pansage!" The monkey tried to dodge the heightened attack, but was engulfed by the fire. Cinder landed behind where Pansage was and turned around breathing heavily. The orange and gray smoke cleared and Pansage was knocked. Cress held up his hand on Yume's side of the field. "Pansage is unable to battle any further. The winner of the battle is the challenger." Cinder ran over to Yume and jumped up into her arms. "Yes! We did it!" The two trainers met in the middle where Cilan handed Yume the Striaton gym badge. "Congratulations Yume. It looks like Pansage and I have some work to do to improve our strategies." Yume returned to where her friends were all sitting and smiling. "Nice job Yume! That was a great counter move by letting Cinder's tail absorb the attack with the fire." Hima said. Yume's head cocked to the side confused. "It did?" Hima slapped her hand to her forehead. The trainer with the straw trilby added in, "It was a good strategy none the less, but if hadn't been for your Charmander's Blaze, you may have not won the battle. You don't want to have to put your Pokémon in that situation all the time in order to win a battle." "What do you know about that Mr. Smartypants?" Yume said challenging. "My Charmeleon has the same ability and I know that in order for it to take effect, is when you're Pokémon's health is getting low after taking a lot of attacks." He replied sharply. Yume's courage went down a little. "Oh." The trainer looked at Hima and Markus. "That leaves you two to battle for a gym badge. I'd recommend a double battle to save time. You may have to wait for one of the other gym leaders to recover so that you have two opponents." The two of them looked at each other. "I think it'd be possible. Does that sound alright with you Hima?" She shrugged, "It's fine with me." They both turned and walked towards where Cress, Chili, and Cilan were treating their Pokémon. Markus spoke up, "If it's alright with you three, my friend and I would like to have a double battle with two of you. If you don't have a partner, though, let my friend challenge you ahead of me. I'll wait until tomorrow." Cress looked back at his brothers. "I'm afraid it's just me who has a Pokémon able to fight." Markus was about to step back, but the other trainer stepped up. "If you don't mind, I'll battle alongside you Cress. I've been in their places before." Hima and Markus looked back at him confused and surprised. "I don't mind the extra hand." Cilan said. "Neither do I. Should add some different spice to the battle!" Chili added. Cress smiled, "Then you're free to help out." The trainer walked to Cress' side of the field. "Alright then, let's have a battle!" Both of the teams went to their respective sides and Chili took the position of referee. "Will both teams send out their chosen Pokémon, please!" "Here we go Panpour! Let's keep things cool and refreshing." A blue monkey completing the monkey element trio appeared from the Pokéball. "Panpour!" The trainer took a different Pokéball from his belt and tossed it towards the battlefield. "Come on out Shkval!" A Carvanha appeared from the trainer's Pokéball. "Get to it Echo!" "Let's do this Naru!" Markus' Scyther and Hima's Nuzleaf stood ready to battle. "Let the battle begin!" "Echo use Fury Cutter on Panpour!" "Scyther!" "Use Razor Leaf on Carvanha!" "Nuzleaf! Nuz!" Both Pokémon used their attacks. "Shkval! Block Nuzleaf's Razor Leaf by using Bite on Scyther and tossing it into the attack!" The piranha lunged and caught the Scyther by its mid section in its mouth. With a quick movement Shkval threw Echo into the Razor Leaf. "Oh no! Sorry Markus." "Panpour! Provide something cooling for our friends and use Water Gun!" Shkval ducked down and let Panpour jump over it to douse Echo and Naru. "You're both going to have to work together in order to beat us." The trainer said. Markus and Hima gritted their teeth watching their Pokémon get back up from the attack combo. "We need to figure out a plan Hima. Those two seem to have this down for just meeting." Markus still knew this trainer from somewhere, but he wasn't sure of it yet. "I agree. We'll be wiped out before we get started. Let's try and focus on how we can get the advantage. Try to stop Carvanha from moving somehow. Naru use Energy Ball on Carvanha!" Naru charged up a green ball and shot it at Shkval. "Panpour use Mud Sport to catch Nuzleaf's attack!" The blue monkey launched a glob of mud from the ground intercepting the Energy Ball. "Counter with Ice Fang Shkval!" The piranha launched itself over the mud and dropped toward the Nuzleaf with frost coming off of its teeth. "Cut in with a Vacuum Wave Echo!" A blast of air caught Shkval off guard and launched it back. "I think I have a plan of attack Hima. I need Naru to use Energy Ball on Carvanha again." "Alright, I hope you know what you're doing. Naru use Energy Ball again!" Markus set his sights on the Panpour in front of him. The attack flew towards Carvanha again. "Intercept the attack with Mud Sport again Panpour!" Cress called out. "Echo! Use Vacuum Wave on the mud and send it back!" The wind crashed into the mud and sent it back encasing both Shkval and Panpour in it. "I see what you were planning Markus! Quick, let's combine Naru's Energy Ball and Echo's Vacuum Wave!" "Right, let's go Echo!" Naru tossed the green ball of energy towards Echo and it quickly shot off in the wave of air. A dust cloud rose from the area of the field showing that both Pokémon had fainted. Chili held his hand up for Hima and Markus. "Carvanha and Panpour are unable to battle; the victory goes to Hima and Markus!" The two friends gave each other a high five. "Alright, looks like we didn't do such a bad job tag teaming for our first time partnering up." Markus said. "I agree. It's a good thing you figured out how to use their attack to our advantage." The two trainers met Cress in the middle of the field the same way their friends had before them."Congratulations you two. Here are Trio badges for the both of you." They both received matching badges while the other trainer walked up to them carrying his Carvanha. "I'm surprised that you two managed to pull something like that together for your first time battling together." He said. Cress added in, "I'm surprised that they managed to beat someone of your status like that." "Hey, I'm working with a new team here. Had I had Samurott, I'm pretty sure things would have been much different!" A voice came from behind them. "Are you finished yet Joel? I thought you'd be done a half hour ago." The trainer smiled sheepishly. "Well see… I thought it'd be fun to watch some new trainers battle, and then I ended up filling in to help with some of the challengers." A girl with a white shirt that had a blue peace sign imprinted on it, with a pair of white shorts, a silver cross necklace, a pair of light blue sneakers, and a blue and white hat with a Pokéball design on top of her blonde hair that was put into a ponytail. An Arcanine was sitting next to her. "You can explain it later. We need to get out and head to Castelia City in case you've forgotten about our plans." She gave him a hard glare causing him to slap his hands to his head. "You're right Nicole! I completely forgot about the boat!" Joel quickly recalled Shkval into his Pokéball before running towards his friend. "Thanks for letting me fill in. I may see you guys some other time!" With that both of them disappeared. "Sheesh. Some guy forgetting what he was supposed to be doing." Yume said. "THAT'S IT!" They all turned to Markus. "What's it?" Cassidy asked. "I knew I saw him before! Joel competed in the Pokémon League a year ago! He beat Alder once he got through the Elite Four. I'm surprised he didn't have the team he used then. He could have easily beaten us with his Samurott or Beartic." Cress said, "He did say that he was working with a new team. Maybe you'll see him in the Pokémon League again. I'll certainly be interested to find out what other cool Pokémon he's recruited onto his team." "I want to challenge his Charmeleon with Cinder! Then we'll see who's good at strategy!" Yume pumped her fist into the air with determination lighting her eyes. "We better take our leave. Thanks for the battles you three." Hima said. The three gym leaders waved good bye to the four trainers.

Outside they noticed how late it had gotten since they went inside. "We better start making our way to Nacrene City." Cassidy said. "But before we do, we should get our Pokémon healed up at the Pokémon Center. It wouldn't be smart to go into the forest with them in this shape." They all nodded and made their way to the red topped building. They didn't notice that the girl Yuki was watching from a distance with her Purrloin perched on her shoulder.

Nicole and Joel were walking through the forested route on their way to Castelia City. "I can't believe how quickly you forget about things sometimes Joel. It can't be healthy." "I try my best, but you know how my brain gets when I get focused on analyzing other's strategies. It's an addiction I know." Nicole's Arcanine pushed Joel with its shoulder causing him to fall over to the side. "Haha very funny Thunder." He got back up and caught up with the two of them. "Have you noticed the reports lately in Pokémon Centers Nicole? There are escalated reports of Pokémon Hunters in several cities." "I have noticed that. I wonder if it's an organization or if there are just that many small time hunters in the area." She said. Joel looked down. "I'm worried for trainers that haven't had much experience fighting people. I'm sure we can handle any hunters that jump us, but I don't want to see young trainers losing their Pokémon. When I was watching that kid Markus and his friends battle in Striaton, I'm positive that some of their Pokémon were recently taken out of their homes. Not captured in a battle, but trapped." "If we can, we're going to prevent as many of those Pokémon Hunters from taking people's Pokémon." Nicole said. Joel followed up with, "Definitely."

Brett, Claude, Rose, and Crag were sitting around their campfire pit with their Pokémon mingling around them. "We need a plan. Those kids are getting in our way. It's not just coincidence that they appeared twice. Why can't other groups have these problems?" Claude said disdainfully. His Jolteon padded up and sat down in his lap. "I agree Claude. We need to figure out a way to stop these trainers from interfering with our plans." Rose said. Crag was messing with an empty can. "Can't we just beat them up or something?" Brett laughed a bit, "If it were only that simple Crag. It'd work, but if we were to get caught, we wouldn't just be charged for stealing Pokémon." Claude held up his hand for them to go silent. "I think I hear someone coming. Get ready just in case we get the chance to cash in on a trainer." The hunters picked up their net launchers and trip throws.

Nicole and Joel were walking down the path when Thunder stopped. "What is it?" The Arcanine crouched down and growl towards the trees. Suddenly a net shot out from the foliage. Thunder disintegrated the net with a Flamethrower. Nicole yelled out, "Hunters!" Joel pulled off two of his Pokéballs and tossed them up. "Come on out Titan and Rosetta! We need your help!" His Charmeleon flipped out of his ball and a Gliscor flew down to perch on her tail. "Come out Absol!" Nicole's Absol stood waiting for the attackers to appear. "So much for the element of surprise." Claude walked out nonchalantly with his Jolteon in front of him sneering at the trainers. Joel said, "Looks like we get to start sooner than we expected Nicole. I'm not sure if we should stick around, though." "I agree Joel. How do you propose we get out of here?" She asked. "Titan! Use Smokecreen!" "Charmeleon!" Black smoke poured out from Titan's mouth and shrouded the area in a thick black cloud. "Bronzor use Gyro Ball!" The attack dissipated the smoke and revealed that trainers and their Pokémon were gone. Brett tossed his launcher down on the ground. "This is NOT good for our quota." "I wouldn't have expected any less from them." Claude said. Brett looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean?" "Those two beat the Elite Four last year Brett. They are more experienced with battling than us. We're lucky they didn't stand and fight. Then again, the Joel character didn't have Pokémon that were with him in the Pokémon League. He probably had a new team in training. The Arcanine wasn't the same, though. It could have easily burned us to cinders." Brett scratched his brow. "Now that you mention it, I do remember them from the Pokémon. I guess we did luck out even if he had a new team."

Markus and his friends were heading into the same forest as Joel and Nicole went to. "It should take us a couple of days to get to Nacrene City if we don't get sidetracked too much." Cassidy said as she looked over the map of the region. "We should be fine. I just hope we don't run into those Pokémon Hunters again. I'm sick of them." Yume said. Markus looked ahead and stopped in his tracks. "Guys! There they are! Duck into the bushes!" They scrambled into the foliage and peeked out from the leaves. "Why are they always in our way? It seems like wherever we go they are there." Hima said angrily. Cassidy said, "We need to avoid them as much as possible. It shouldn't be too hard. You wouldn't think so though." They moved away from the path and began fanning around the area they saw the hunters at. They all slowly moved as they tried to keep an eye on the path looking for movement in their direction. They weren't paying attention and bumped into someone in front of them. With a couple of thuds and oofs they looked around. Cassidy had tripped over Joel, who crouched behind a bush, and landed on top of him. Everyone else had tripped over her and into the clearing of bush ring. Nicole looked at the group of people that had most likely crushed her friend. Thunder was laying down looking at them with curiosity while Rosetta glided down from a tree to see if her trainer was alright. "Who are you four?" Nicole asked. Markus pushed his hat up. "Sorry. We were just skirting around the Pokémon Hunters on the road. We didn't know you were hiding here." Cassidy sat up and looked at Nicole. "Yeah, I guess we were so focused on looking out for them that we didn't look where we were going." She laughed a little and put her hand behind her head. Joel tapped her leg. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get back up." She looked down and saw him with his face in the ground. She quickly got off and helped him up. "I'm sorry!" Joel looked up and had some turf in between his glasses. "I can't help it, but am I still on the ground?" He asked looking to the sides and up. "You have grass in your glasses Joel." Nicole said. She shook her head and put a hand on her forehead watching him try and remove the grass. "It's you, from the gym!" Hima said. Nicole crossed her arms. "Yes it's me; my name is Nicole. Now if you don't mind we're figuring out how to get the jump on those hunters because as far as they know, we've high tailed it out of there." Rosetta landed on her tail watching everything being sorted out. "Why not just leave them behind and continue on your way?" Yume asked curiously. Joel finished rubbing the dirt off of his lenses. "We don't plan on letting them get off so easily for ambushing trainers on the road like that. That's why we're planning to give them a surprise. We left off with Rosetta distracting them from the air while Lucario, Electrike, and Tesla sneak to their camp to release any Pokémon there. Thunder and Titan will sneak up on the hunters themselves. Your Absol will take out any others with Hugo when they run out into view." "Sounds like a plan." They both called out their other Pokémon. "You all know what to do. Let's get to it!" The two trainers left the clearing with their Pokémon leaving the Markus and his friends sitting there. "Does anyone else feel like they know something we don't?" Hima asked.

Claude and Brett sat in the bushes with their net launchers ready for trainers passing by. Brett looked up to see Rosetta flying from tree to tree. "Hey Claude, take a look!" He looked up at what Brett was pointing towards. "Oh yeah, a Gliscor! I wonder if I'd be able to peg it from here." Claude stood up to take aim with the launcher. There was a growl to his left and when Claude looked over Thunder was standing there. "Brett, we have a small issue." "What is it Claude? It can't be that bad." "Try an angry Arcanine." They were both shot from the bushes with a Flamethrower. Rose looked out from the other side. "What's the commotion out there?" Rosetta swooped down with a Fury Cutter ready. Crag looked out just as Rose ducked. "Yeah what's with th- OW!" The Fury Cutter landed its mark on the forehead of Crag instead of Rose. Titan moved behind them and got them out onto the path with a Smokescreen. "What's going on here?!" Rose yelled out in between coughs. Nicole's Absol stood on one side of the path with Hugo the Dwebble on the other side. "These aren't wild Pokémon!" Absol's sickle glowed white and she used Razor Wind. "Bronzor intercept the attack!" The metal plate spun into view and hit the blade of air from the side. Hugo picked up a rock and sent it flying hitting Bronzor from behind. Brett called out his Houndour. "Take care of the Dwebble!" "Houndour!" The black dog started running at the hermit crab. Houndour shot a Flame Burst at Hugo, but he retreated inside his shell and the fire split off. Hugo came out again and launched a Smack Down under Houndour's chin causing it to flip onto its back from the force. "Dwebble!" Hugo lunged forward to use Bug Bite on Houndour. The hermit crab jumped off from the fainted Pokémon to return its attention to the Pokémon Hunters. Brett recalled his Houndour after seeing the small Pokémon defeat it so easily. Claude's Bronzor fell to a Flamethrower from Thunder. "We need to get out of here!" Crag said watching his Throh trying to land a hit on Titan. The lizard dodged another one of Throh's Thunderpunches and blasted fire into its face.

Lucario, Electrike, and Tesla quickly found the Pokémon Hunter's camp thanks to Lucario's way of scanning the area using aura. Using aura again, Lucario searched for any Pokémon that may be hidden from view and caged up. "I'll mark the spots using a small ball of aura. We'll split up and begin freeing them." "Oh I wouldn't try anything like that." Claude's Jolteon strolled out from behind a tree. "I can't allow you to do that. See, my trainer needs these Pokémon in order to be paid." She opened her eyes to be shot back by an Aura Sphere from Lucario. "Anyways back to freeing the Pokémon." Jolteon was sprawled out on her back dazed from the strong attack. Tesla used Psyshock on a hollow tree causing the bark door to fall outwards revealing the Pokémon inside. Electrike dug underneath a heavy rock slab to access the cages hidden in a cave while Lucario used Metal Claw to break open the cages carefully. Soon all the Pokémon were freed and the three rescuers headed back to find their trainers. The wild Pokémon ran back into the forest while the others ran towards Striaton in hopes of finding their trainers there. Brett's Gengar rose up out of the ground in front of Lucario, Electrike, and Tesla. "Well, look at what I found here. A bunch of brave rescuers and liberators." The ghost looked at the three of them as they tensed. "Seeing that you've released the Pokémon we had originally, it looks like you just volunteered to take their place." A Shadow Ball started to form in front of the Gengar, but a twirl of dark purple energy slammed into its side sending the Gengar flying. Domino bounded into view. "Markus sent me to help you out. I've dealt with that Gengar before and it's not very friendly. Let's get out of here before it decides to get up again." "Thanks Domino" Tesla said. They left the Gengar and Jolteon behind to go back to their trainers.

Joel and Nicole had joined their Pokémon in apprehending the Pokémon Hunters as they saw Lucario, Electrike, Tesla, and Domino return from freeing the captured Pokémon. "I thought you two chickened out when you had your Charmeleon use Smokescreen. What gives?" Rose said with her Zigzagoon waiting next to her. "You got the jump on us last time, but we decided to repay the favor." Nicole said. Domino ran over to where Markus and the others appeared from the bushes. "Oh great! They brought the others with them!" Claude said despairingly. "Good job Domino. It looks like we've found the other hunters from yesterday; along with the ones chasing Domino." Markus said. "You haven't heard the last from Polarus! Bronzor use Gyro Ball!" The Bronzor spun around and created a dust storm. "Clear the air Gliscor!" With the swift wind created by the flying scorpion the trainers saw that the Pokémon hunters had escaped. "Good job everyone." Nicole said as she withdrew her other Pokémon into their Pokéballs except for Thunder. Joel did the same save for his Charmeleon. "I think they've learned their lesson this time around. I'm sure they'll be back with some much stronger Pokémon." They both turned around to Markus, Cassidy, Hima, and Yume. "We'll be seeing you around. Thanks for having your Mightyena lend a hand with Nicole's Lucario and Electrike- along with my Solosis." "I figured they'd run into the Gengar that we ran into. Domino doesn't enjoy the company of that Pokémon." The two champions of the Unova League waved goodbye to the growing trainers as they resumed their trek to Castelia City with their Pokémon beside them.


End file.
